A piece of land on Victory Road, Parkhurst, opposite the Pikitup Garden Site has been identified by Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) as a more convenient solarisation site for wood infested by polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB).
Solarisation is a process in which infested wood is covered in heavy plastic and left in the sun for months to kill the deadly shot hole borer, before the wood is recycled. Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck said when the 2016 tender process fell through on the land late last year, he alerted JCPZ and invited them to inspect the area.”They thought it was a good idea and started the process to acquire it from Joburg Property Company,” added Truluck.
Don’t miss the Rosebank Killarney Gazette’s #ProtectOurTrees portal for more updates on PSHB.
He said while the new solarisation site would not alleviate the borer problem, it would allow the City to start removing dead and infested trees in Region B and E.Manager for environmental protection at JCPZ Cebo Mhlongo said, “The most impacted areas are Region B and E and this particular site will be used to solarise wood chips from both regions.”Ward 90 councillior Martin Williams said people were currently living illegally on the site.
“The people living on the site require attention. “A solarisation site cannot simply be established without reference to them. Various City departments, including social development, City Parks and JMPD will have to engage with them on a way forward,” added Williams. Mhlongo said this site was only for solarisation of infested wood in public spaces and members of the public were not allowed to use this site.
“A separate process is ongoing with Pikitup to allocate a communal site to be utilised by the community for removed trees located in private residences. A formal memorandum to that effect was forwarded to Pikitup’s MD for assistance. The identified potential site is Linbro Park landfill, though not yet confirmed, and is also subject to further discussions with interested and affected stakeholders,” added Mhlongo.
Williams encouraged residents to engage City Parks about the decision to limit the Parkhurst site to public trees only. “This is a good opportunity for residents associations and other interested bodies to lobby for the facility to be used for affected trees on private property. In this way, residents can help define what the new solarisation space means for surrounding wards.”
Mhlongo said a number of measures needed to be put in place before the site could be utilised including the removal of displaced people occupying the land, clearance of overgrown vegetation, securing the facility, installation of signage and more.
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